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Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Lychgate Locations

Cathedral Square

This square sits at the foot of the Cathedral of St Gax, a squat structure built by the Sword Brothers almost two hundred years ago. The cathedral is more of a fortress than a church, though its interior is lavishly decorated. Cathedral Square is the home of the great markets held nearly once a week during the Summer and sometimes into the Fall - though trade slows during the snowy season. It is surrounded by the moderately well-appointed townhouses of the merchantry and lower nobility of Lychgate.

The Square of False Gods

This square is surrounded by a number of squat, ruined stumps that are said to have once been idols to pagan deities. These idols were hacked, burned, and dragged to their current location after the Sword Brothers won a victory over a particularly fearsome pagan tribe. It lies in the Low District, just a ways north of the Southern Gate, setting it almost in the middle of the city's slums. On market days it sees almost as much, if not more, activity as Cathedral Square. At night it is heavily patrolled by the badger men, due to the bishop's suspicion that it is a meeting place for Yimsleyite rebels and members of the Brotherhood of Thieves and Assassins.

The Whore's Nipple

Few inns in the Dark Country hold as terrible a reputation as the Whore's Nipple. In the unlikely event that the Brotherhood of Thieves and Assassins is anything other than a paranoid fever dream of Bishop Notker, its headquarters is most assuredly here. Even if it isn't, the Whore's Nipple is a place where ne're-do-wells can go to seek illicit employment. Sleeping on the floor of its common room, while cheap, is not advisable without a shiv.

The Brazen Man

A well to do inn and eatery with a macabre centerpiece, the Gilded Man is named for the "statue" of a pagan king that stands in the center of the common room. The king was killed by the Sword Brothers when he was immersed in molten bronze, and the statue purports to be the result of this brutal execution. This is a common meeting place for the guildsmen of the city, who enjoy the numerous, and sometimes bizarre, games provided by the proprietor. Strangers are, usually, unwelcome unless they are obviously wealthy.

The van Toad Trading House

This large building was once the home of the Guild of Hostlers, Scribes, and Imaginers - a now defunct organization whose members were burned at the stake for witchcraft after the bishop found a coin missing from his treasury. The van Toad family acquired the property during the trouble last year with the pig-men, when the bishop allowed froglings into the city for the first time in exchange for a hefty sum of guilders. It is rumored that the van Toads are attempting to have the restriction renewed, but only for the other frogling merchant houses.

The Bishop's Palace

This imposing structure lies just north of the Low District. The surrounding neighborhood was once part of the slums, but a convenient series of fires around the time of Bishop Notker's election allowed for the gentrification of the area, and the purchasing of a number of quaint lofts by the children of Realmish nobility. The palace itself is, in some ways, not unlike the cathedral. It is squat, well fortified, and shockingly ugly by Realmish standards. Despite its apparent impenetrability, rumor says the daring rascal Yim Yimsley was able to gain access to the bishop's private chambers.

Badder's Barracks

A large building that once served as a guild hall, Badder's Barracks now acts as the headquarters for the local guard, as well as the barracks for the badger men. It's location isolates it from the commercial areas of the city, and makes many guards complain of the long, armored walk to the Square of False Gods. Its dungeons are said to go deep beneath the earth, and may even connect with the various tunnels created by the Brotherhood. The proximity of the city to the Long Swamp makes this unlikely.

The Ruined Shanty

This small ruin has stood outside the South Gate for almost a year. It was apparently home to a group of rebels who sought to grant Arnawald the Black Eagle entrance in the hopes that he would take the city from Notker. The bishop knows that Arnawald is pious man who would never question his authority but executed the rebels all the same in order to set an example. A few sickly trees still have spare threads of rope, or even most of a skeleton dangling from them.